I'm So Disappointed

[LisaDoesEarth]

I canceled my wedding since my family members could not get along and I was tired of arguing. I spoke with my fiancee and we decided to just go and get married on a cruise ship. Now looking at prices, the cheapest is $800.00. We can afford that, but we will be alone and I feel that is just so expensive for just a ceremony with us alone. Anyone have any suggestions on something we can do? I was already disappointed about having to cancel the wedding and now this is actually bringing me to tears. I feel like nothing is working out. The only thing I really care about is a beautiful wedding dress. I know I could just go to the justice of peace, but there is no reason to have a fancy wedding gown there and I'd rather be able to say I was married someplace nicer than that. Any suggestions?

[MommyInSC]

I am sorry your family is fighting =( That stinks!

If you really want to wear the dress, why don't you still wear it??? Not quite the same since I am married, but I had a tiny wedding to begin with and never got to wear my gown. So 10 years later dh and I are going on a cruise and will be renewing our vows. I bought my huge gown to wear (though he does not know that yet ;) It will just be the 2 of us. I could care less about all of the people being there....I just want to wear the dress and I want pictures of me wearing the dress LOL. Sounds like you had similar sentiments to a degree.

{{{Hugs}}} I hope it all works out!

[LisaDoesEarth]

Oh, that's so cool of you! I'm glad you finally are getting a chance to wear it. I hate the fact that I will only have one day to wear the dress and am considering wearing it for one formal night. I know that would be a bit much though! I never cared about a big wedding, but a gorgeous white wedding dress has always been my dream!

[kadiebug12]

Wear it!!! I've heard so many stories of people who got married on a ship and it brought joy to many passengers to see the bride and groom around the ship. If I were you I would wear it and get married on formal night then go to dinner in your dress, it would bring joy to many passengers and you won't feel alone being surrounded by so many well-wishers, I'm sure of it. Good Luck! maybe you can talk just one or two people into cruising with you. :)

[MommyInSC]

I had never even thought to wear my dress at formal night. Even brides with huge gowns and trains, wear their dresses to formal night????

I might have to do that. Try to get my money worth LOL

[kadiebug12]

Lots of brides do it, makes for great portraits and also makes for a great time for all those that will see you. We've been on board before and seen a bride and groom, we stopped to watch them have portraits taken. That's what gave my fiance the idea to marry on a cruise!!! Go for it.

[samben]

Hi,

 

Sorry about you having to cancell your wedding plans......

 

TRUST ME.......getting married on the cruise ship, you will NOT feel like its just the 2 of you. My daughter got married in Oct. on The Mariner and soooooooo many people kept coming up to them and congratulating them, it was like having a huge reception. Everyone was sooooo nice.

 

She wore her dress and veil all that night.......when walking into the dining room alot of people clapped for them. She truly felt special.

 

Have a fantastic wedding..........

 

Sandy

[BarbaraSails]

Get married on the ship. Really, marriage is about you and your mate anyway. It's the most precious union given to us by God.

 

If your family is causing you drama, it's best to leave them out of it. You want a peaceful, loving day to remember.

 

I just saw a couple who were married onboard my 12/12/04 cruise aboard the Conquest. Like a few other posters mentioned, it was a DELIGHT to see them. We even stopped them, chatted for a few minutes and they let us take pictures of them!

 

Best wishes.

[dot73]

What a shame that family members cannot put their bitterness aside for one day. Shame on them!!! Do not allow them to spoil your special day. Go on the cruise and by all means wear your beautiful wedding dress. As mentioned before, do it on a formal night and have wonderful pictures taken by the ship's photographer. Carry your camera with you and ask strangers to take your pictures. Nobody will refuse a new bride. There will be lots of people to give you good wishes. Post your pictures when you get back. DO NOT LET ANYONE SPOIL YOUR SPECIAL DAY!!!!

[Katriean]

My husband and I got married on a cruise without any guests. I had many reasons for wanting to have a cruise wedding. Family problems would have made a more traditional wedding much more stressful. I loved my wedding day. It was beautiful and full of memories that I will never forget. The day was just for my husband and me, and the cruise staff and guests really made us feel special. I highly recommend this kind of wedding for anyone with family problems. We celebrated our marriage after returning home with a small group of family and friends. I was so happy with our wedding choice and hope you find the right wedding for you and your fiancé.

[LisaDoesEarth]

I feel so much better after reading all these posts and I've scheduled our cruise (even got a suite for the first time!) and we will get married on the ship. My fiancee is really looking forward to it too. I have an aunt and uncle who may also come which would be fine. I think we will marry on the first day of the cruise, but I may wear my gown again for formal night so that we can take more pics (and I can get another time to wear the gown!) It's not going to have a long train, so I think it will be fine.

[LakerVA]

We had a similar situation...although we didn't have problems with people getting along...we just had a vast difference of lifestyles between our families (drinking..not drinking..etc)....so we just went on a cruise and got married with not one family member on board. We told them they could watch on the webcam. We got married on the Golden Princess..in the chapel by the captain. We met a few great people on the cruise over the first couple of days...and invited them to our wedding. They all came..and they even bought gifts in the gift shop. They joined us for a small cake/champagne reception. Families watched on the webcam (no sound) and we showed them all the video when we got home. We loved every minute of it and haven't regretted doing it this way one bit. I wore my white (well..ivory) gown and hubby rented a tux. I wore my gown on the first formal night and a different dress on the second...hubby wore same tux both times...so we got our moneys worth on the tux rental for sure. I say go for it!!!

[lilpinklady]

Wow...this is my first post even though i've been lurking quite a bit. Anyway, Lisa...forget em'. My SO and I have planned 3 different weddings trying to make EVERYONE happy and it is IMPOSSIBLE. now is the time to think of yourself and I think a cruise wedding is just perfect. I always felt like they weren't too excited for us anyway so why spend all that money on making people happy who didn't even care?

[chicaletta]

Lisa, Don't worry about a thing...take it from someone else who has been there. Due to many reasons me and my husband decided to go on a cruise and get married on St Thomas with just the two of us...and it was the best decision we ever made. I too felt a little funny about me wearing my big "princess gown" and him in a tux for just the two of us, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. As others have mentioned everyone on board makes you feel sooo special and when I look at my pictures I'm reminded of how great we looked and how special I felt. We had no stress because we had nobody we felt we had to make happy but ourselves and believe me we had a wonderful day. We showed everyone the pics when we got home. Hubby who at first didn't want to wear a tux....I couldn't get it off him ...wore it for both formals too. Anyway what I'm saying is whatever reservations your having about thinking you will overdo it because it's just the two of you...throw them out the window and go all out with whatever you want...because I will guarantee you will not regret a thing!! This was a second marriage for each of us...my first was the big try to make everyone happy and I stressed the whole time and didn't really enjoy the wedding...his was the courthouse married by the justice of the peace....we both agree that the way we did it was the best and most enjoyable. The only thing we didn't do was the cake, but we did get the champagne and have the photographer, flowers, location and of course the tux and gown.

Good Luck in your planning and Congratulations!!

[Blndiebby25]

My fiance and I are also thinking of getting married on our cruise. This will be my second marriage so don't really want a big wedding again and neither does my fiance. It would just be the two of us. We are thinking about getting married in Tampa before the ship leaves and than the cruise can be our honeymoon.

[deltachi96]

I think my fiance and I may be in the same boat (no pun intended). We sat down tonnight and discussed how our wedding plans are going great for our parents, but it is really not what we want at all. We brought it up to our parents and both sets made it seem like our wedding is more about them than it is about us. Last time I checked, we were getting married and not them. We have already booked on the NCL Wind in June and are thinking of just getting married on the cruise. Just the two of us.

[LisaDoesEarth]

Well today was kind of sad. I just bought my gorgeous (and expensive) wedding dress and I'm feeling bad that most of my family and friend's won't see me in it. I really wasn't even thinking about that until my sister brought it up. I'll get over it, because we have every thing booked and my fiancee and I am looking forward to it. Also, I have such a low threshold for stress that if I planned a big wedding, I honestly think I'd have to go on valium. We have a gorgeous suite that my mother payed for and I have a gorgeous dress. I am happy I am not spending 10's of thousands of dollars. I would probably regret that in the future. I'm down now. I just hope the wedding on the cruise is beautiful.

[engagedatsea]

Lisa--Your date and wedding ship???--If you get married in port before the cruise you can have a few people attend the wedding even if you elect not to have a reception other than cake and champaigne. If your ship has a specialty reservations only supper club --get your travel agent to see f he can get you reservations on your wedding night.

 

My family is only begining to accept my cruise wedding in a port. My 74 year-old mother has just decided it is okay because they have a chapel aboard the Carnival Legend!!! This only occured after I showed her a picture of the chapel!!!

[lilpinklady]

i'm stressing about the whole dress thing too. but i figure I won't be in it very long anyway after our morning wedding and brunch..then pictures. i'll be ready to start honeymooning...:)

[DesrtDrmr]

Just a little planning tip...............you can get married before your cruise at the embarkation port, you can get married at a port, or if you sail on Princess, you can get married on the ship, by the Captain, in their wedding chapel with a webcam on, for the folks at home to watch.

Have a beautiful wedding!

 

I think most cruiselines have a wedding planner...............they can answer questions and help you set up your wedding.

[samben]

Hi My daughter that got married on The Mariner in Oct. just had a cocktail party this week-end for people that didn't attend the wedding. It was great....you might want to do somthing like that and you could wear your wedding dress. We had the wedding video playing all the time during the party.

[JFontaine]

LDE - Any way that you can use some of the money that you are saving on the wedding and bring a couple of people? Parents or maybe siblings? Without offending anyone?

 

I understand why you feel sad. I guess nothing is perfect. But if you got a good guy - that's something to celebrate!! And I am sure you will have a beautiful wedding. All the best to you.

[LisaDoesEarth]

Lisa--Your date and wedding ship???--If you get married in port before the cruise you can have a few people attend the wedding even if you elect not to have a reception other than cake and champaigne. If your ship has a specialty reservations only supper club --get your travel agent to see f he can get you reservations on your wedding night.

 

My family is only begining to accept my cruise wedding in a port. My 74 year-old mother has just decided it is okay because they have a chapel aboard the Carnival Legend!!! This only occured after I showed her a picture of the chapel!!!

 

We are getting married aboard the Miracle on May 8th. I'll have some family that will attend, those that are going on the cruise with me, but I don't have family in Tampa, so most of them won't be there. My mother isn't even coming which is really sad. She's cruised before and she has the money, she just doesn't want to go.

[LisaDoesEarth]

i'm stressing about the whole dress thing too. but i figure I won't be in it very long anyway after our morning wedding and brunch..then pictures. i'll be ready to start honeymooning...:)

 

Actually, I want to stay in my dress! I don't want to ever take it off! I'm still not sure what I will do. Just wear it on the day of the wedding or wear it the next day. My fiancee said whatever I want to do is fine with him.

[LisaDoesEarth]

Hi My daughter that got married on The Mariner in Oct. just had a cocktail party this week-end for people that didn't attend the wedding. It was great....you might want to do somthing like that and you could wear your wedding dress. We had the wedding video playing all the time during the party.

 

Oh, Wow! Great idea! It's so original! Now, my head is traveling in another direction and I can wear my dress, because it will be a formal occasion! I'm going to save this message for when I return for my cruise. How did she do it? Did you have it at home or did someone rent a place?